The Economics Show

What does it really take to get rich in America? Straight As at an elite university or entrepreneurial parents? And as America holds midterm elections and California votes on whether to tax billionaires on their wealth, what does it mean for the rich to be paying their fair share? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to economist Owen Zidar, co-author of Everywhere Millionaire, Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There, about a fairer approach to taxing the wealthy. Can the US tax the rich more without discouraging the entrepreneurs who drive economic growth?

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Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio. Thanks to John Cappuccino for his help recording this episode in the Princeton Broadcast Centre.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Eight months ago, when the Iran war began, analysts worried that oil could go up to $200 per barrel. That’s a huge jump compared with about $70 before the conflict, and there were fears it would cause a huge shock to the global economy. Luckily, that hasn’t happened. But oil prices have been climbing again since July. Commentator and analyst Rory Johnston joins host Soumaya Keynes to talk through how high prices could still go and why what you pay at the pump doesn’t reflect the cost of unrefined oil.

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Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is not a calm time in the markets. Investors are losing their cool while bond yields rise along with inflation. So where are central bankers? Offering words of calm? Or adding to the anxiety? The Fed’s Kevin Warsh has been telling people they need to look to the data, not to him. But is it that simple? The FT’s Chris Giles joins host Soumaya Keynes to talk through what makes for good central banker communication – and what happens if the message gets lost.

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Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Europe has a China problem. Every single day, Europe buys a billion euros’ worth more stuff from China than it sells back. And the EU wants to stand up to Beijing over surging exports, which are challenging European industry. But China is also a vital market for European businesses and a crucial supplier of goods and raw materials. So how do you pick a trade fight with a country you depend on? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to Bernd Lange, the German MEP who chairs the European parliament’s international trade committee, about what Brussels can do to level the playing field with China. Plus, with President Donald Trump rewriting the rules of global trade, how can the EU ensure the US plays fair too?

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Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music by Breen Turner, sound design by Sean McGarrity. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Tech companies are hiring economists to study how AI is reshaping work and society. But what happens when the companies building the technology also produce the research into its effects? Host Soumaya Keynes talks to Ara Kharazian, chief economist at Ramp and Peter McCrory chief economist at Anthropic, alongside FT data journalist John Burn-Murdoch, about why economists are in such demand, what proprietary data can reveal about AI’s impact, and whether industry-backed research can avoid conflicts of interest.

Want more?

Are economists making themselves too useful in the AI boom?

Find John Burn Murdoch and Sara O’Connor’s The AI Shift newsletter here

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music by Breen Turner, sound design by Sam Giovinco and Sean O’Garrety. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The global economy is becoming increasingly hostile with tariffs, export controls and industrial policy being used as geopolitical weapons, while the world’s biggest powers compete for economic advantage. So where does that leave a middle power like Britain? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to UK senior civil servant Jenny Bates, who’s just completed the Heywood Fellowship at Oxford university, where she got to think about Britain's place in the world and how it should adapt to a changing geopolitical seascape. They discuss what Britain can learn from historic partnerships and why closer co-operation between government and business could be crucial to navigating a more dangerous global economy.

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Further reading:

Mark Carney urges EU to cement trade deal as Ottawa seeks pivot from US

Ursula von der Leyen backs Canada’s ‘associate membership’ bid

Trump lays a new trap for Takaichi

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dads today are doing more childcare than previous generations, so why hasn’t the parenting gap between mothers and fathers disappeared? One reason: mums are doing more too. Host Soumaya Keynes talks to Corinne Low, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and author of 'Femonomics’ (titled ‘Having it all’ in the US), about what the data tells us about how couples divide the work of raising a family and what same-sex couples can teach us about gender roles in parenting. Plus, can Soumaya’s parenting spreadsheet really help make childcare more equal?

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Further reading:

The perks of parenting by spreadsheet

Can AI improve parenting?

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Building data centres and running the US government have something in common: they cost a lot of money. Tech companies are borrowing heavily to fund the AI build out, just as Washington is borrowing vast sums to fund the US government, and those two borrowing binges may be on a collision course. Investors are already worried about America’s mounting debt burden and about whether the AI boom has become a bubble. Ruchir Sharma, chair of Rockefeller International and contributing editor to the FT, explains how the two worries might be more closely connected than they first appear, how rising US Treasury yields could raise borrowing costs for AI companies and which number investors should be watching.

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Further reading:

Why America’s debt binge is starting to matter

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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In recent months, part of the chip market has been going bananas. Prices for memory chips – which AI data centres use in droves – have rocketed, as US tech companies lock in massive orders. That’s bad news for consumers facing more expensive electronic devices. But what are the broader consequences of misalignment in this market? How will the chip squeeze end? And, as memory chips become a strategic commodity, how are the US and China looking to secure supply? Host Soumaya Keynes is joined by Dan Kim, chief strategy officer at semiconductor analysis firm TechInsights and former chief economist at the CHIPS Program Office at the US Department of Commerce.

Further reading:

Why memory chips are the new frontier of the AI revolution

Memory chip boom leaves PC and smartphone makers in the cold

Maybe the chips are down because memory’s too expensive

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh took to the stage at Jackson Hole under pressure. Inflation is sticky, bond markets have been wobbling and his insistence on minimal Fed communication has been seen by some to make matters worse. Soumaya speaks to Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, to discuss what Warsh did (and didn’t say), the changing relationship between the Fed and the Treasury and how the central bank should fight America’s growing fiscal issues.

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Join Soumaya Keynes on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now athttp://ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPODCAST.

Further reading:

Hawkish Kevin Warsh hints Fed will raise rates if inflation does not fall soon

Warsh settles some nerves at Jackson Hole

Scott Bessent’s bond intervention puts US Treasury on collision course with Fed

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1873 Gründerkrach, the spectacular stock market crash that followed Germany’s unification, is one of history’s great financial maelstroms. But its most enduring legacy isn’t about money. Host Robin Wigglesworth speaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed about how the resulting economic malaise fuelled social division and transformed old prejudices into antisemitic conspiracy. It gave birth to ideas that would resurface with catastrophic consequences decades later in the 20th century.

Further reading:

1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World (2026), by Liaquat Ahamed

Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire (1977), by Fritz Stern

Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth

Senior producers: Michela Tindera and Laurence Knight

Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa

Original music and sound design: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips

Video editors: Josh Divney and Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery

Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at thestoryofmoney@ft.com

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As wealth becomes increasingly concentrated — and artificial intelligence threatens to shift even more income from workers to investors — has the US tax system become outdated? Stephanie Flanders speaks with Harvard professor Jason Furman, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Bloomberg reporter Caitlin Reilly about wealth taxes, capital gains, inheritance and whether taxing America's richest is politically or constitutionally possible.

Hear more from Trumponomics: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumponomics/id1038108799

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In the midst of the US-China trade conflict last year, Beijing unsheathed its fiercest weapon. By ramping up restrictions on exports of rare earth metals – crucial elements for high-tech manufacturing – China forced the US to climb down. That show of strength was a wake up call for the US. It has since spent huge sums backing mining companies, penned eye-catching deals and moved to collaborate with allies. But after a little more than a year, how much progress has it made in breaking China’s hold on the rare earths supply chain? Featuring: Abigail Hunter of the SAFE Center for Critical Minerals Strategy; Gracelin Baskaran of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Cory Combs of Trivium China; and FT commodities correspondent Camilla Hodgson.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:

China and the new era of critical minerals diplomacy

Hedge funds raise bets against US-backed critical minerals companies

China restricts trading with some US rare earth companies

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the executive producers. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Productivity has been a problem for the past 15 years. In developed countries, weak demand, a lack of competition and a paucity of new ideas have all been blamed. Could AI finally reverse that trend? Soumaya speaks to Stanford economics professor Nick Bloom about why CFOs and CEOs expect AI to supercharge their businesses; how concentrated (or otherwise) the gains might be; and why working from home could be good for labour output… and fertility rates.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further Reading

Is AI productivity growth in the room with us right now?

How much value is AI really creating?

Hosted by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Sean McGarrity. Andrew Georgiades is the broadcast engineer. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US has long been the world’s undisputed leader in AI. Now, that lead looks under threat. Cutting-edge Chinese models such as Kimi K3 are proving almost as capable as leading American models; meanwhile, companies in the US and Europe are turning to cheap, efficient Chinese software from companies including DeepSeek and Z.ai in an attempt to curb high usage costs. As China takes strides – and Beijing considers export controls on its AI models – Soumaya speaks to Kyle Chan, fellow at the Brookings Institution's John L Thornton China Center, to find out more.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:

Chinese AI start-up Moonshot launches model challenging Anthropic’s lead

Companies turn to Chinese AI models to cut costs

China weighs tighter export controls on AI models and chips

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the US and Israel started bombing Iran earlier this year, market watchers eyed the oil markets nervously. But as the price of crude oil climbed, so did the price of another key commodity produced in the Gulf: fertiliser. Five months later, the world’s food system is looking better than feared, but as Adam Hanieh, director of the Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London explains, the worst may yet be to come. Soumaya also assesses his prognosis with the FT’s agriculture correspondent Susannah Savage.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the western world, richer people tend to be thinner – especially women. But does wealth make people thin, or does being thin make them wealthy? And could the rise of weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy give people – especially women – greater control over their economic outcomes? Soumaya speaks to Harvard professor Rebecca Diamond, the author of a new working paper that finds female users of GLP-1 drugs are more likely to find jobs and romantic partners. Soumaya also speaks to FT consumer editor (and GLP-1 user) Claer Barrett to discuss the drugs’ effects on consumer habits – and the economy at large.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:

The economics of women’s weight

Does the weight-loss revolution show up in the data?

The challenges of a weight-loss economy

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Andrew Georgiades is the broadcast engineer. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips if the FT's head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, economists were panicked. Several warned that a prolonged closure of the chokepoint could trigger a recession. After all, that’s what oil shocks do. But no recession came – even after oil prices jumped to almost twice their pre-war level. Why didn’t the global economy tumble into a recession – and are we out of the woods? Soumaya speaks to Tyler Goodspeed, author of ‘Recession: The Real Reasons Economies Shrink and What to Do About It’. They discuss why the global economy has become more resistant to recessions, why the US has more downturns than the UK and why would-be recession-forecasters might be better off reading horoscopes.

UK public finances weathering Iran war, Andy Burnham to be told

Iran war could slow global growth to weakest since pandemic, IMF warns

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Broadcast engineering by Andrew Georgiades. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the US government banned a top AI lab from exporting its newest models, the world took notice. Export controls forbidding foreign access to Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable systems locked most of the world out of using this cutting-edge technology. As AI becomes more embedded in our daily lives, countries want to secure access to frontier models. But unless you’re the US or China, your country doesn’t have a top-tier national champion. So what can other countries do to secure sovereign control over AI? What kind of leverage can they exert? And can they use AI to boost – rather than break – their economies? Soumaya speaks to UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan to discuss.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further Reading

How the DeepMind mafia brought the AI boom to London

UK companies ‘should be worried’ about Anthropic’s latest AI model, minister says

Did Anthropic talk its way into an AI export ban?

Anthropic chief tells G7 leaders to ‘resist the temptation to splinter’ over AI

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Sound design by Sean McGarrity. Original music by Breen Turner. Broadcast engineering by Andrew Georgiades. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

For decades, China accelerated its industrial development through a straightforward bargain: foreign firms invested in China, often through joint ventures, gaining access to the enormous Chinese market, while Chinese companies absorbed western tech and knowhow. Today, that dynamic is changing. China's high-tech industries are now world-leading, and western governments are looking on enviously. So should the US and EU now take a page from China's playbook? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to John Minnich, assistant professor of international relations at LSE, about the history of Chinese tech transfer, how it drove industrial sophistication and whether the west could — or should — attempt something similar.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further Reading

How China pulled off a great tech reversal

EU to include UK and Japan in ‘Made in Europe’ plans

John Minnich: Divide and Conquer: Industry Market Structure, Inter-Firm Rivalry, and Bargaining over Technology

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.